Citation Nr: 18149811
Decision Date: 11/14/18	Archive Date: 11/13/18

DOCKET NO. 18-10 907
DATE:	November 14, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for a skin disorder, to include chloracne, to also include as due to herbicide exposure, is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from April 1969 to November 1970. This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2017 rating decision by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). 
The Board has expanded the Veteran’s claim on appeal to encompass all similar disorders.  See Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009) (the scope of a disability claim includes any disability that may reasonably be encompassed by the claimant’s description of the claim, reported symptoms, and the other information of record).
1. Entitlement to service connection for a skin disorder, to include chloracne, to also include as due to herbicide exposure, is remanded.
The Veteran is seeking service connection for chloracne, to include as due to herbicide exposure. The Veteran contends that his chloracne is directly attributable to his exposure to herbicides while serving in the Republic of Vietnam during his military service. 
Initially, the Board notes that VA has already conceded that the Veteran has been presumptively exposed to herbicides as a result of his military service, and chloracne is a disorder that is presumed related to such exposure if manifest to a compensable degree within one year of exposure.  
Here, the Veteran’s VA and private medical records do not include a diagnosis or mention whether the Veteran has chloracne.  However, in September 2016, a VA medical provider diagnosed him with dermatitis of the bilateral forearms, and raised the possibility that such symptoms may be related to exposure to herbicides.   The Veteran has reported that the Environmental Exposure Office advised him to file a claim in order to obtain an examination of his skin condition. 
While dermatitis is not a presumptive condition related to herbicide exposure, service connection is still for consideration if the medical evidence indicates relationship.  Based on the treating physician’s comments, the Board finds that the Veteran should be afforded a VA examination to determine the nature of his skin disorder and the relationship, if any, of such disability to service, to include herbicide exposure.  See McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 83 (2006).
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain the most recent VA treatment records. 
2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of his skin disorder.  
For any skin disorder diagnosed, the examiner is asked to provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (i.e. a 50 percent probability or greater) that the disorder is related to toxic herbicide exposure or, if shown by the record, any incident in service.  
If chloracne is diagnosed, the examiner is asked to state whether this disorder was shown within one year of his most recent exposure which, according to the Veteran’s DD-214, was November 1970.  
 
B.T. KNOPE
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	I. McGee, Law Clerk